The 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula One Grande Prêmio do Brasil 2016) was a Formula One motor race held on 13 November 2016 at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in São Paulo, Brazil. The race was the 20th and penultimate round of the 2016 FIA Formula One World Championship and marked the 45th running of the Brazilian Grand Prix and the 44th time that the race had been run as a World Championship event since the inaugural season in . At the race duration of a little over 3 hours, the race was the longest Brazilian Grand Prix in history.

Winner of the previous year's race Nico Rosberg entered the round with a 19-point lead over his teammate Lewis Hamilton in the World Drivers' Championship. Their team, Mercedes, had already clinched the World Constructors' Championship, holding a lead of two hundred and fifty-two points over Red Bull Racing, with third place Scuderia Ferrari another sixty-two points behind. Hamilton took pole position and won the race from Rosberg to take the championship to the final round in Abu Dhabi. Max Verstappen finished third, having dropped to 16th after a pit stop with 16 laps to go. In the process, he became the youngest driver at the time to set the fastest lap of a Grand Prix, a record which has since been broken by Kimi Antonelli at the 2025 Japanese Grand Prix.

Qualifying DriverConstructorQ1Q2Q3144Mercedes1:11.5111:11.2381:10.736126Mercedes1:11.8151:11.3731:10.838237Ferrari1:12.1001:12.3011:11.4043433Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer1:11.9571:11.8341:11.485455Ferrari1:12.1591:12.0101:11.4955631:12.4091:12.0471:11.540678Haas-Ferrari1:12.8931:12.3431:11.93778271:12.4281:12.3601:12.1048911Force India-Mercedes1:12.6841:12.3311:12.16591014McLaren-Honda1:12.7001:12.3121:12.266101177Williams-Mercedes1:12.6801:12.420111221Haas-Ferrari1:13.0521:12.431121319Williams-Mercedes1:12.4321:12.521131426Toro Rosso-Ferrari1:13.0711:12.726141555Toro Rosso-Ferrari1:12.9501:12.920151630Renault1:13.2591:13.258161722McLaren-Honda1:13.276171820Renault1:13.410181994MRT-Mercedes1:13.427192031MRT-Mercedes1:13.43222219Sauber-Ferrari1:13.623202212Sauber-Ferrari1:13.68121107% time: 1:16.516Source:

Notes – Esteban Ocon received a three-place grid penalty for impeding Jolyon Palmer during Q1.

Race The track was very wet at the start so the race began behind the safety car until the start of Lap 8. Lewis Hamilton built up an early lead. Marcus Ericsson crashed on lap 13 on the pit straight bringing the safety car back out again. The race restarted again six laps later only for Kimi Räikkönen to crash on the pit straight immediately, spinning across the track before hitting the wall. The race was red flagged and there was a 35-minute delay before restarting again behind the safety car, however seven laps later it was again red flagged as the conditions were deemed still too dangerous.

After another 25-minute delay, the race started again behind the safety car, which finally pulled in after another three laps. Late on in the race, Felipe Massa crashed near the pit entry, bringing the safety car out again. While walking back to the garage, Massa received applause from several teams and was visibly emotional, as it was expected to be his last Grand Prix in his home country.

The race restarted again and Hamilton went on to win the race from Championship leader Nico Rosberg and Max Verstappen.

Race classification DriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints144 Lewis HamiltonMercedes713:01:01.33512526 Nico RosbergMercedes71 +11.455218333 Max Verstappen71 +21.481415411 Sergio PérezForce India-Mercedes71 +25.34691255 Sebastian VettelFerrari71 +26.334510655 Carlos Sainz Jr.Toro Rosso-Ferrari71 +29.160158727 Nico HülkenbergForce India-Mercedes71 +29.8278683 Daniel RicciardoRed Bull Racing-TAG Heuer71 +30.48664912 Felipe NasrSauber-Ferrari71 +42.6202121014 Fernando AlonsoMcLaren-Honda71 +44.4321011177 Valtteri BottasWilliams-Mercedes71 +45.292111231 Esteban OconMRT-Mercedes71 +45.809221326 Daniil KvyatToro Rosso-Ferrari71 +51.192141420Renault71 +51.555181594 Pascal WehrleinMRT-Mercedes71 +1:00.498191622 Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Honda71 +1:21.99417 21Haas-Ferrari60 Electrical12 19 Felipe MassaWilliams-Mercedes46 Accident13 30 Jolyon PalmerRenault20 16 7 Kimi RäikkönenFerrari19 Accident3 9 Marcus EricssonSauber-Ferrari11 Accident208 Romain GrosjeanHaas-Ferrari0 Accident—Source: Notes – Daniel Ricciardo received a 5-second penalty for entering the pit lane when the entry was closed. He served this penalty during a subsequent pit stop. – Felipe Massa received a 5-second penalty for overtaking before the safety car line. The penalty made no difference as he retired. – Romain Grosjean crashed on the way from the pit lane to the starting grid.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Driver Points 1 Nico Rosberg* 367 2 Lewis Hamilton* 355 3 246 4 Sebastian Vettel 197 1 5 Max Verstappen 192Source:

Constructors' Championship standings Constructor Points 1 Mercedes 722 2 446 3 Ferrari 375 4 Force India-Mercedes 163 5 Williams-Mercedes 136Source:

Note: Only the top five positions are included for the sets of standings. Bold text indicates the 2016 World Constructors' Champions. Bold text and an asterisk indicates who still had a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.

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